Community-led Street Design

February 25, 2015

Cupcakes, tricks ‘n your Street Shouts!

Thank you to everyone who came to our launch event last week. We had fantastic weather and had over 60 residents come and chat to us, register their interest in the project and give us vital local knowledge and feedback about some of the traffic, speed and parking related issues in the area.

This is really valuable and will form the basis of our ongoing engagement and listening sessions with parents, children, shopkeepers, residents and everyone else in the area – so thank you for coming down. We hope to see you at our next event soon.

Everyone enjoyed the amazing BMX star Matti Hemmings doing his tricks and lots of people even had a go at learning something new!

Artist Tom Berry also created a map of Rose Lane along the pavement to give people a chance to imagine their street in a new way.

So what did everyone think about what needs to be improved in Marks Gate?

Speed of traffic along Rose Lane: Lots of residents commented about the speed of cars travelling along Rose Lane with people adding that as pedestrians they worry cars won’t stop for them at the zebra. We talked to residents about different way to ensure drivers know that they’re entering a 20mph residential zone when they leave the A12 and go along Rose Lane. Some residents suggested flashing beacons or signs alerting drivers to slow down when they enter the neighbourhood – ensuring it’s seen as a ‘gateway’ rather than just another road.

Improve the subway: The subway was a popular topic with comments such as: ‘I don’t feel safe in the subway, it’s smelly and dirty’. There were also calls for the skylights to be opened up again and to address the problem of flooding in the subway when it rains.

Tidy-Up Rose Lane: Lots of people commented on the amount of rubbish that ends up on the floor along the pavement at Rose Lane, even though there are 3 bins along the one shopping parade.

Tackle dangerous parking and give more space to pedestrians: Parking was of course, another popular topic with residents telling us about the dangerous double parking along Rose Lane and Lawn Farm Grove – especially at school pick up and drop off times. Parents walking to school with their children felt squashed against the barriers and told us they often had to walk in the road with their pushchairs.

Fix street lighting: Other issues brought up were Padnall Road – cars using this road as a rat run and with some street lamps not working at night. People’s fears around anti-social behaviour on Rose Lane were also mentioned by some older residents who were nervous to see younger people hanging out around there with nothing to do.

Provide safe point for coach drop-off: The issue of the coach dropping off children to Marks Gate Junior was also raised as the grass verge is being destroyed as because of the barriers the coach has nowhere to stop and drop the children off after trips out.

Places to play: People told us they felt the play area on Tantony Green is in need of a ‘facelift’ as did the shopping parade – one suggestion was that the shopfronts could do with a bit of makeover.

Talking to the shopkeepers at the event they mentioned the following priority issues:

– Trees and flowers and benches – do something for the kids who come and hang out after school

Lawn Farm Grove pavement is very crowded at pick up and drop off times and sometimes parents are forced into the road with prams

– Need more parking spaces for business owners and a loading bay – at the moment the lane behind the shops isn’t safe and there’s a general shortage of car parking due to the loss of a car park because of the building project.

What do you think?

Do you agree or disagree with the comments posted above? This is the time to let us know – we want to hear your views!

Obviously we can’t tackle everything as we only have limited funds – but this listening exercise is a good opportunity for some issues to be tackled and also for some to be shared and acted upon by other community groups or organisations. Just a thought.